Labyrinth
by franks-not-dead
Summary: When Ryan's 'dead' friend Lucca tells Horatio that Ryan's in trouble, the team race to save their own. But with Lucca on the run, Ryan has half the story, no idea that she is still alive, or that she sacrificed her own life to save his. Will they survive?
1. The Dream

**Author's Note:**

**This is my first story on this site, so I'm excited and nervous, not to mention that I am learning as I go along.**

**Now, I have read this through several times, but is you see any mistakes, please tell me and I will change them.**

**Also, credit for the title of this chapter goes to In This Moment's second album, 'The Dream' (epically amazing). In This Moment are my new favourite band, so their music has, and will, influence this story. Check them out!**

**Disclaimer time: I do not own CSI: Miami, or any characters in the show. If I did, it would be a completely different show, but we won't go there yet. I own Lucca, and any other original characters which will pop up later on. I also invented the plotline, so if it similar to anyone else's- I'm sorry, but I made this up whilst shovelling tonnes of slate and flint into my parents garden. Sheer hard work.**

**Now on with story. Hope you enjoy!**

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The night was humid, and his sheets stuck to him as a leech would stick to its unwitting host. He tossed and turned in his bed, dreams flashing in front of his closed eyes in rapid succession, but none staying for longer than a few minutes. As he murmured in discomfort from the heat, the next dream began.

He knew straight away that this dream was different to the previous ones; he'd been having this same dream semi-frequently for the past ten years. He struggled in desperation to wake up; he didn't want to remember this part of his life, he didn't want to see it again. However, his brain stubbornly refused to stop the flashback, and he ceased his subconscious struggle with his body, giving himself up to the inevitable nightmare.

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The six year old Ryan sat in the garden on his bike, staring at the path in front of him with his tongue poking out of his mouth in concentration. Ignoring the stinging from the grazes on his knees, he thought about his earlier argument with his dad.

'_But I can't Daddy' wailed Ryan._

'_Can't is not a word Ryan, and crying will not make you learn any quicker. As I told you, if you want to come inside, you will learn to ride your bike. I have taken the stabilisers off for you, so there is no reason why you cannot learn to ride it.' Mr Wolfe replied to his pouting son._

'_But I want to go inside. Can't I do it another day?' Ryan pleaded._

_Mr Wolfe looked down at his youngest child, saw the fear in his eyes, and sighed. Ryan had always been a quiet child, keeping himself to himself, watching everything around him, and Mr Wolfe knew that Ryan rarely admitted to being afraid or nervous. However, he himself never admitted to fear, and he believed that if parents pandered to their child's fears, then the child would grow up emotionally insecure. And no child of John Wolfe's would grow up to be a pansy boy. So he crouched down to Ryan's height, looked fondly at his son, a mirror of himself, and said softly;_

'_Ryan, if you want to big boy like all of the other boys, then you have to be able to ride your bike without the stabilisers. And the only way for you to learn is if you have motivation, which I am giving you. So, here is your choice: either you don't come back inside this house until you can ride this bike, or you come inside and I put the stabilisers back on. Which is it?'_

_Ryan looked hard at the ground and thought carefully. Could he really learn to ride the bike in one afternoon? If he could, then Mom would get him the book he'd been begging for all week. But if he went in, all the boys on the street would laugh at him because he couldn't ride his bike without his stabilisers. He looked back at his dad, and saw that he was deadly serious. Ryan bit his lip and sighed- he knew his dad wouldn't budge on the staying outside part, he was strict like that. Then he had an idea._

'_If I learn before Mommy comes home, can we surprise her?'_

_Mr Wolfe chuckled. His son had a knack at finding a silver lining in every cloud, and would always turn a disadvantageous situation into a beneficial opportunity. _

'_You got it Ryan.'_

_Ryan shook hands with his dad and the two grinned at each other like fellow conspirators._

Two hours later, and Ryan could now ride ten metres without falling off. By now he was exhausted, as it was a typical hot Miami summer. His dad came out every so often; leaving snacks and drinks, and would watch, unbeknownst to Ryan, his son's rapid progress and smiling in pride.

Something caught Ryan's eye as he was resting, and he looked across the street to see a car and a removal lorry pull up at the house across the road. He watched as a man and a woman got out of the car, the lady walking up to the house to unlock it. One of the car's back doors opened, and out stumbled a young girl, about a year or so younger than himself. _I wonder whether she'll be my friend,_ mused Ryan. She must have felt his gaze on her as she turned around and waved at him. Ryan blushed and waved back. _I wonder whether she can ride her bike properly yet_, he thought suddenly._ Maybe I can teach her! Then we can ride together._ He marvelled at his brilliant plan whilst his dad called him to help make dinner.

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The dream switched to a few months later when Ryan had become firm friends with the girl across the road, Lucca Swofford, and his mom had become best friends with Mrs Swofford. Ryan and Lucca quickly became inseparable, despite the year age gap, and not only hung out with each other at school, but after school too.

The dream focused on one particular night; the night that began the eventual end of Ryan's world. The rain lashed down, and Ryan could hear it thudding on the roof. Ryan usually liked the rain- the world always seemed fresher the day after a good downfall of rain, but tonight was different. The distant rumbles of thunder, along with the unusually heavy rain kept the young Ryan awake, as he lay in his bed, tired and afraid the storm which was slowly making its way to Miami.

As he waited for sleep to come, he heard knocking on the front door. _Why would anybody be up at this time of night? _he thought. _Why would anybody even be _outside_ in this weather? _He listened as he heard his mom creep downstairs and answer the door. As he strained his ears to hear, he thought he heard someone crying softly, so he decided to make sure his mom was okay.

Treading slowly and quietly so no one would hear him, he hid on the stairs where he had a perfect view into the living room. His mom was placing a hot drink on the coffee table, and Mrs Swofford was sat on the sofa opposite. Beside her was a large bundle of blankets in which Lucca was wrapped in, fast asleep and oblivious to the storm above her.

As soon as he saw her, Ryan ginned and almost sprung from his hiding place to get her to play with him, but then he heard his mom speaking softly to the still sobbing Mrs Swofford. He frowned as he couldn't clearly hear what was being said, and he carefully slid down a few more stairs in order to get closer to the conversation.

Still not able to hear everything, the curious Ryan almost groaned aloud in frustration, but before he could, Mrs Swofford cried out in a muffled sob; "He's a lunatic!" Ryan could only just hear his mom's soft voice speaking calmly to Lucca's mom, but could only make out "...hurt you, would he?"

"Me, yes." came Mrs Swofford's hoarse reply.

Mrs Wolfe looked at her horror, before speaking so gently, Ryan could make out nothing at all, except for "...Lucca?"

Mrs Swofford looks at her sleeping daughter before looking Mrs Wolfe in the eye, and replying with brutal honesty "I honestly don't know what that man is capable of anymore."

Ryan watched as his mom went over to Mrs Swofford, and the two women sat in silence looking at the young girl bundled in blankets between them, both of them completely oblivious to the young boy who was fighting a losing battle against sleep on the foot of the stairs.

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The dream eventually released Ryan from its grasp, and his eyes flew open as soon as the last remnants of the final scene faded- his breathing erratic and his eyes whizzing around his room taking everything but seeing nothing. Running a tanned hand through his tousled hair, he mentally berated himself for getting so agitated over a dream which he considered to be a pesky nightmare- it only occurred when he was exhausted, but it always followed the same pattern; first, the 'childhood stage' as he called it, then the 'teen years', and finally, the part he dreaded the most, the nightmare itself: the ending. No fancy name for that one, as it was exactly that- just the end.

Ryan sighed. He already knew that it was going to be a bad day, what with having his sleep pattern broken by memories of his past. He just didn't know how much worse it going to get.


	2. Next Life

**Author's Note:**** Ok, this might be a long note. Please bare with me.**

**First of all, thank you so much to the people who took the time to review the first chapter, especially ****csimiamifreak92310, 1zippy, LadyGreySun and Gooniegirl13333****. I know I've already replied to you to thank you, but I just wanted you all to know that I really do appreciate you taking the time to give me feedback and encouragement. So once again, thank you. And in return, I will follow your stories, and encourage you too. So expect reviews from me soon *fake evil laugh* haha! Thank you also to all those who have subscribed to this story, and put it on their alerts and ****favourites****. **

**Secondly, I ****apologise**** for the delay. I know I said to some people I would update in a week, but life has been a git to me lately. I have spent the past few weeks moving into my new student halls, reading course books for uni, fixing my parent's garden, helping my Nana move into her nursing home and emptying her house, as she had a stroke a few months ago. So not only has it been a physically hectic time, but also an emotional one. So once again, apologies. **

**On to my third point- another disclaimer. I forgot to mention in the first chapter that the title credit for the story goes to Enter Shikari for their song 'Labyrinth', a truly epic song. This chapter's title credit goes once again to In This Moment. Also, I still don't own CSI: Miami, Ryan Wolfe (I wish), or any of the lovely characters in the programme. **

**And last, but not least, I have planned at least five chapter's of this story so far, and I know roughly how I want the story to pan out, but I am open to suggestions. In the near future, I may put polls up on my profile with various options for you lovely people to vote on how you want the story to go. Actually, am I allowed to do that? Anyway, if so, you can suggest options to go on the poll if you want, but I will talk about this closer to the time.**

**Right, I think that is all. On with the story. Oh, there's some swearing in this chapter, so be warned. Only a little though. Enjoy chapter two!**

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Ryan looked down at the teen sat in front of him and Horatio in the interrogation room. He had spent the best part of the day collecting and analysing evidence which tied this young man to the murder of his father.

"Why did you do it, Ben?" Horatio calmly asked the lad who Ryan thought, frankly, looked a nervous wreck. _A_ _guilty nervous wreck, to be more precise_. Benedict Baker shifted in discomfort at Horatio's question. "You wouldn't understand," he mumbled.

"Try me." Horatio shifted in front of the table to fall in Ben's eye line, giving the young man no choice but to meet the Lieutenant's gaze.

Benedict swallowed hard before answering. "He didn't respect her- my mom. He always treated her like shit. You should've seen him, parading his new Barbie doll around like my mom didn't even exist! He made me sick. I mean, marriage is for life, right? 'For better, or for worse', isn't that it Lieutenant?" He broke off, looking at Horatio in earnest. Horatio nodded gently, in both confirmation of Ben's theory, and in encouragement for him to continue with his confession.

"So I confronted him about it. I told him that I knew his secret. He laughed at me and told me to grow up, and that I was imagining it. Then he called me a mommy's boy, he said I was soft, a pansy. He started muttering about Mom, and her parenting skills, and that made me mad. I mean, as if it wasn't bad enough him cheating on her, he then starts bad-mouthing her and her parental abilities! At least Mom was around to raise me, that's more than I can say for him- at least she didn't sleep with the nearest thing that moved. So I grabbed the monkey wrench and hit him over the head. Over and over again, I don't know how many times- enough to make him stop. I was so angry and upset at what he put her through. I hated him. My own dad and he made me hate him."

Ben choked out the end of his confession, before breaking down in floods of tears. As Horatio signalled to the uniformed in the room to take the young man away, Ryan sighed and ran his hand through his thoroughly ruffled hair for the umpteenth time since earlier that morning. _Another case solved,_ he thought to himself. _At least I can go home and try to relax._ Even though he knew that relaxing wouldn't be easy- he had had Lucca's face etched onto his eyeballs like a tattoo all day. _The girl's been dead for nearly a decade, and she's still got a hold on you, _he mentally pointed out. His brain had a point, Ryan decided, although his heart was still sore from the loss of his best friend. _Never gets any easier._

"Everything okay, Mister Wolfe?" Ryan almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of Horatio's voice, but he collected his wits together to give his boss that half-hearted, lopsided grin which endeared him to well over half of the female staff at MDPD. Not that Ryan was aware of that, although it was something which Walter and Jesse found highly amusing- Ryan's complete obliviousness to the amount of female attention he got in the work place would never cease to be their favourite out-of-work topic of conversation.

"Yeah, everything's fine thanks, H." lied Ryan, even though he had a sneaking feeling that his boss wasn't fooled. And he was proved right when Horatio scrutinised him carefully, as though he were a piece of evidence to be analysed.

"Okay, well if you need anything, you know to call me" Horatio eventually concluded, before walking out of the interrogation room, then abruptly stopping again.

"And Mister Wolfe?" Horatio called back to him.

"Yeah, H?" Ryan wondered what the Lieutenant wanted him for now. After all, he had spent the entire day working his butt off, despite having had a crap night's sleep.

"The team are going for a meal tonight. No special occasion, just a casual social thing. Fancy coming?"

Ryan smiled at his boss's eagerness at having his whole team bond outside of work. He thought for a second- he was tired, no doubt about that, what with the dream having disturbed his sleep, but on the other hand, it would be nice to chill out with his colleagues, especially if Walter and Jesse were going to be there. _Mind you,_ he thought, _if I go home, all I'm gonna do is clean the kitchen again, so it's not like I'm gonna get any sleep anytime soon anyway._ _And when I do, she's gonna be there waiting, just like always. _He looked at Horatio and grinned.

"Yeah, sounds good boss. I'll get the details off Walter- as he knows everything."

Horatio couldn't help but smile at the cheeky grin Ryan had on his face- everyone knew that Walter could come across as... well, intimidatingly intelligent, but everyone also knew that Ryan and Walter together usually meant double trouble, and that they were both just as bad as each other.

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Ryan pulled up at the diner, parking his Hummer next to Calleigh's, before getting out and locking the door and walking up to the entrance. He stopped suddenly at the door, and looked around the car park in alarm. Ever since his ordeal with the Russians, he had become sensitive to the feeling of eyes on his back. His eyes quickly scanned the area, even though it was twilight and the car park was mainly in shadows. He decided it was clear, and that he was probably being paranoid. _Besides, why want anyone want to watch me from a diner car park, _he reasoned, _that's hardly hardcore stalking. _He almost laughed out loud at the thought of some poor swine having to sit in a car for the best part of the evening, whilst he sat inside the warm diner, eating delicious food and chatting with his friends. _Pity the poor idiot who would have to do that job- they would really have no life if they took to stalking me._ Shaking his head at his own absurdity, Ryan walked into the diner, leaving thoughts of stalkers behind him.

He spotted the rest of the team there already, but he had known that they would get there before him- his OCD wouldn't let him leave the office until he had his paperwork in order- and he sat down at the end of their booth, next to Jesse and opposite Frank, who looked less than impressed at the way they were all squashed into the booth like sardines in a tin. They were all chatting about various things; Natalia and Calleigh were in the middle of discussing some new firearm which was being tested out, Walter was explaining the way of the female mind to a bewildered and perplexed Frank, whilst Horatio listened in obvious amusement. Ryan and Jesse sat in companionable silence, both of them watching as Frank got more and more visibly agitated by Walter's rambling. Ryan caught Jesse's eye and both stifled a laugh at Frank's attempt to bite back his temper for politeness's sake.

As Ryan sat there listening to his colleagues chat, he felt the familiar feeling of being watched again. He shifted in his seat before scanning their booth- none of the team were staring at him. He turned his head slightly so that he could see the rest of the diner- no one was looking at him. _You're being paranoid again, _he reminded himself. He decided to scan the diner once more, just for peace of mind, and then concentrate on enjoying the rare time he spent with the rest of the team off shift.

His eyes landed on the girl at the counter. It wasn't the girl herself, as he could hardly see her face due to her oversized hood covering most of it, but more the state of her which attracted his attention. Her cream and olive green hooded lumberjack jacket was slightly too large for her petite frame, and the cream was more a shade of grey due to built up grime. The dark grey jeans were so threadbare that Ryan could see that it wouldn't be too long before they fell apart all together. Her worn-out hobnail boots were untied- but looking at the laces, he saw that there wasn't much left to tie them together with. The grey hood on her shabby jacket engulfed her head and covered most of her face, but he could see a few tresses of dark brown hair hanging over her face. She sat at the counter, small hands wrapped around a cup of coffee, hunching over it like her life depended on the hot, caffeinated liquid. All in all, her appearance screamed homeless, but as Ryan looked closely at her clothes, he realised that she was dressed quite fashionably. Her clothes just looked so worn, not to mention filthy. _Almost like she lives in them, _he thought. _Well, the phrase 'all I own are the clothes on my back' definitely springs to mind. _He watched as she sat, stock still, just hunched over her coffee.

As he sat there watching her, he noticed that every now and again she would slightly move her head to the side- not noticeably enough to catch anyone's attention if they weren't watching her like a hawk as Ryan was currently doing, but he couldn't help thinking that she kept glancing in his direction. He shrugged, and put it down to his paranoia- she was probably glancing at Jesse anyway. Ever since Delko had left, Jesse now got all of the female attention.

"And that is how you get the ladies, dude." concluded Walter as Frank glared at him, obviously not able to contain his temper for much longer.

"Really? 'Cause I've never noticed, what with me being older than you kid, and having more experience." Frank retorted, sarcasm dripping from every word. The whole group burst out laughing, whilst Walter looked crestfallen at his advice having been shot to smithereens by Frank's acidic remark. Ryan laughed along with his colleagues, enjoying the fact that Walter had been brought down a peg or two by the grumpy detective. _Hell, _he thought whilst grinning, _it's about time someone did._

Sharing a knowing grin with Jesse, Ryan once again felt that familiar jolting feeling of eyes on him. Frowning in annoyance at his over-alert senses, he discreetly looked around the diner again and saw that the grubby girl was glancing in his direction once more. This time he could see the profile of her face, although the hood shadowed most of it still. He could see smooth, tanned skin and the gentle slope of her nose which resulted in a slightly upturned snub nose. As he tried to see her face more clearly, he had a gut feeling that he had seen her somewhere before. _An old case perhaps_, he mused, _or someone I saw at school? _He tried to think of where he had seen her. _But I don't remember any scruffily dressed young women, she could be anyone- someone I've passed in the street maybe. Besides, I can't even see her face. _But deep down Ryan knew that he could think of thousands of excuses to justify the feeling of recognition, but that somehow he knew of this girl.

At that moment, Horatio's phone rang, announcing a text message. Immediately the booth went quiet, everyone wondering who on earth was texting their boss at that time of night. Horatio quickly read the message, frowning slightly before discreetly glancing at Ryan out of the corner of his eyes in confusion.

"If you would all excuse me for a moment..." he trailed off as he stood to leave the booth.

"H, what's wrong?" an anxious Calleigh asked.

"Nothing. I just need to make a call..." Horatio replied as he walked towards the door of the diner.

Ryan looked at the rest of the team, who all looked as baffled as each other at the fact that their boss had left. It wasn't that Horatio had to make a call- that wasn't unusual. It was the look on his face when he had read the text message that had startled them. Ryan couldn't remember a time when he had ever seen the Lieutenant look as confused, bewildered and plain worried as he had just then. The whole team knew that Horatio was a man who kept his emotions under wraps as much as possible, so to see those emotions on his face set the team on edge in anxiousness. Ryan was so preoccupied with pondering over what had worried his boss so much, that he failed to notice the shabby girl slip off her seat at the counter and walk out of the diner after throwing one last glance in his direction.

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**There you go! Finally finished the chapter. I'm aiming to get the next one out by... let's say Friday night? Only if you R and R though ;) And, again, if anyone spots any mistakes, please point them out so I can correct them. Thank you.**


	3. The Rabbit Hole

**The third chapter! Finally! I know I said it would be up by Friday, but uni is being a bugger again. Besides, only four days late this time, so I think I am improving at this meeting deadlines thing :) Right, onto thank you's and disclaimers, and then story! I am quite proud of this chapter, and I personally think that it is the best so far, but what you think is all that matters. **

**Thank you to Gooniegirl13333, Hobby-Writing, and LadyGreySun for your reviews.**

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own CSI: Miami. I do not own the chapter title; In This Moment do because they are blatantly cooler than me.**

**Enjoy!**

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Horatio knew that his team would be puzzled as to why he had left abruptly after the text message, but it couldn't be helped. After all, the text had made it perfectly clear that it was an urgent situation, and Horatio wasn't going to ignore it. It was from an unknown number, and it had only said _"Ryan's in danger. You're the only one I can trust to help him. Outside, in the car park. I'm waiting. Don't tell Ryan." _That was it. Horatio was well aware that it could be a trap, or some sort of sick joke, but he wasn't going to risk Ryan's life by ignoring it. Besides, the sender obviously cared about Ryan enough not to harm him, judging by the fact that they trusted someone to help him. He thought carefully about who would know Ryan well enough to be aware of this danger. Horatio wasn't aware that Ryan socialised outside of work that much. In fact, the Lieutenant couldn't think of Ryan mentioning any friends from outside of the workplace. But then, Horatio had noticed recently that Ryan had gradually become more withdrawn from his colleagues off hours. Even during work, everyone had noticed that Ryan was less friendly. No, he was still the same polite and considerate young man who had looked at Horatio with eager and shining eyes that day he had joined CSI. But over the past year or so, Horatio had noticed an obvious change in Ryan. He was more cautious and less trusting, even with his friends at work. He was quieter- when he had first joined the department he was prone to excitable outbursts that showed his quirky personality. Now, he just got his head down and worked. Worked hard, Horatio willingly admitted. _Almost too hard, like he's overcompensating for something, _he mused.

Horatio would be the first to say that the dark haired officer had matured a great deal over his time at CSI, but he couldn't help worrying that it wasn't just the natural growth of a young man settling into his own skin that attributed towards Ryan's change in personality. Secretly Horatio wondered whether it was related to Horatio's obvious preference of Eric over Ryan, and that made the Lieutenant feel guilt so strong and deep, it hurt. _Mind you, _he mused, _can you blame him for being reserved? He has dealt with far more in the past few years than most CSI's do in an entire career- fired several times, a nail in the eye, cold-shouldered by the rest of his colleagues on several occasions, been in a couple of explosions, not to mention kidnapped and tortured by Russians, and emotionally blackmailed. And that's not even the half of it. _Horatio grimaced as he mulled over Ryan's life at CSI- one thing was for certain: Ryan was often dealt a shit hand in life. But what made Ryan stand out from the crowd was his exceptional ability to come back up fighting. The young man simply took it all on the chin and got on with life. Every single time. And what's more, he rarely complained to anyone. That was a quality that Horatio rarely saw in his line of work. Sure, the rest of his team were strong- Calleigh was, well- Calleigh, Jesse had dealt with his wife death, but he was more the tortured soul type- you could see it in his eyes and by the way he wore his heart on his sleeve for all to see. Natalia was brave- no doubt about that, but she was not yet comfortable with her abilities as a CSI. And Walter...well he was intelligent, but he wasn't like Ryan. Ryan was the strongest member of his team emotionally... and probably physically too, as Horatio thought about how much the skinny kid had beefed up so quickly, probably to compete with Eric. With a jolt at that thought, Horatio had a revelation: Ryan had looked up to Eric when he had first joined, and Eric, although he would never admit it, thought of Ryan as the younger brother he had never had. Horatio knew that despite all of the competitiveness and the little digs at each other, there was a mutual admiration and brotherly love there between the two. They didn't always see eye to eye, but they would each take a bullet- or a nail in the eye- for the other. And since Eric had left, Ryan had withdrawn. Horatio's conclusion: Ryan missed Eric. Granted, he had Jesse, and they both got on well, but Jesse was hardly the tough-talking Eric. Horatio realised that he had been so caught up with his own feelings over Eric's departure that he had completely neglected to take into account Ryan's feelings on the situation. In fact, he realised he hadn't even taken Ryan to one side to give the younger man the chance to express how he felt and how it had affected him. What made it worse was that he had taken both Calleigh and Natalia to one side. He had left Ryan out again. That was the story of his relationship with Ryan- neglectful on his part, masked indifference due to pride on Ryan's.

Horatio groaned inwardly at his unintentional snubbing. How could he have been so blind? Ryan had never asked for anything from Horatio (except for a job once or twice) but then he was the kind of man whose pride would not let him ask for help. It was Horatio's job to notice that Ryan needed help. Thinking back to the text message, Horatio made a silent vow to himself and to Ryan that from now on Ryan would always have Horatio's attention, day or night.

As Horatio was standing in a secluded corner of the car park making his promise, he heard the sounds of light footsteps approaching towards him. He looked toward the direction of the person and was surprised to see a small woman walking toward him. She stopped three feet away from him, standing in the darkness. He looked over her petite frame and noticed that she had been in the diner earlier. He took note of the state of her attire and, unaware that Ryan had noticed the very same girl, came to a similar conclusion to Ryan- this girl was not living a decent quality of life.

She looked up at him and lowered down her grey hood which had covered her small face in shadow. Horatio noticed that she looked incredibly young- at first glance he would have said she looked about twenty-one, but as he looked closer he realised with a shock that she must have been closer to twenty-six. She was pretty, not in the conventional American way, but she had that kind of quirky beauty that only a European could possess. Her slightly snubbed nose twitched in the cool of the darkening evening, and her bright green eyes darted around the car park, alert and suspicious. As she stood in front of him, she bounced slightly on the balls of her feet; her boots were so worn that the leather didn't even squeak at the movement anymore.

Eventually she raised her large, luminous eyes up to his and licked her lips before she began to speak. Her voice was fairly deep and raspy for a woman, and Horatio was slightly startled that such a small girl who looked so young and helpless could possess a voice so rich and powerfully captivating. It was the kind of voice that if she got angry, it would be quite intimidating. The second thing Horatio noticed about her voice was the accent; English with an American lilt to it. Horatio inwardly smiled: that explained her quirky looks- English heritage.

"Horatio Caine?" she inquired.

"Yes Ma'am, and who might you be?" he spoke softly, not wanting to intimidate her and cause her to run off, taking any information about Ryan's danger with her.

"That's not important right now: Ryan is." she retorted with a steely look that Horatio couldn't help but be impressed by. _Girl's got balls, _he chuckled to himself.

"Can you tell me how you know of Mister Wolfe?" he decided to test the water; see if she would give.

"Look, let's cut to the chase. I'll tell you what I know and then tomorrow you can make some calls to your sources and informants or whoever else you know with connections. And then you can decide if you want to help me or not. Deal?"

Horatio looked at her carefully. Her look was one of annoyance but her eyes were filled with desperation and pleading. Both were telling two different stories. Horatio realised that the young women may look tough and prickly, but her eyes betrayed the true emotions she was trying to hide._ A facade, _Horatio mused. He decided to play the game her way for a while, to get a measure of just what this girl was about and what she knew.

"Deal. So what would you like to tell me?" he politely replied.

The young woman gave him one last hard look as if measuring how trustworthy he was, and, obviously deciding he measured up to her requirements, she began to speak again.

"Ryan's being targeted. He's being followed by a criminal gang who work for one of Miami's most wealthy crime lord. The gang run various illegal rings in Miami, including the usual- drugs, crime, prostitution, but they also deal weapons. They're dangerous with a capital D. Ryan doesn't know. The reason why he is being targeted is because of something which happened years ago, which I don't think he remembers. I have four names for you, two of which are trackers following Ryan. Benito Cande and Leon Tullio. There are others, but I don't have their names yet."

"Ma'am, who are they working for?"

The girl raised an eyebrow and gave a slight smirk at Horatio's question. "I was getting to that. The third name is the name you want: Hugo Gabriel." She stopped and looked carefully at Horatio, waiting for some sort of reaction. Horatio froze and looked at her sharply.

"_The _Hugo Gabriel?" he asked.

The girl grimaced, but replied coolly, "The one and only."

Horatio sighed. If Ryan was being tracked by Gabriel's men, then that was not good. Not good at all. What was he thinking earlier about Ryan's lot in life? Oh yes, he was dealt the shit hand. _Well that hand has now got considerably worse. _Gabriel was not the kind of man who had people followed for no good reason- Ryan was obviously fast becoming public enemy number one for Gabriel. Which meant that Ryan had something damning on Gabriel that Gabriel didn't want getting out. Which in turn meant that Ryan was in deep shit. Really deep shit.

"And what about the fourth name Ma'am?" he asked, trying not to let her see he now understood the severity of the situation.

"Kat Davies. You will want to call tomorrow after you've checked with your sources to see if my information is correct. You can trust her." The woman tilted her head towards the diner, and Horatio noticed for the first time since he had been standing there another woman- taller than the one stood in front of him- silhouetted in darkness, smoking. She nodded her head at him in nonchalant acknowledgement.

Horatio nodded his head back to her and thought for a few minutes, taking in everything he had been told. He decided that first thing tomorrow morning he would start making calls to try to gain as much information on Cande and Tullio as he could. And Gabriel. Horatio knew he would have to dig deep, but he was prepared for that. He would have to do it himself though, as he didn't want to involve any of his team- word might get back to Ryan, and he didn't want Ryan withdrawing even more in worry. No, Ryan would have to be kept in the dark for the moment. It was safer for the young man if he didn't know what was going on around him. Horatio was not a gambling man, but knowing Ryan, the Lieutenant would make a sizable bet on Ryan trying to sort his own problems out if he knew he was being targeted. And Horatio was not going to lose any more members of his team. Especially not Ryan. If Gabriel wanted to Ryan, he would have to fight Horatio to get him. And this was a fight Horatio was not prepared to lose.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he noticed that the small woman in front of him was gazing at the diner with a wistful look on her face. The look of longing on her face was so strong that it pulled at Horatio's heart. He sensed that this girl had been through something terrible, and it had cost her a lot. _Maybe it had cost her Ryan_. Horatio blinked in surprise. He had no idea where that thought came from. Then Horatio Caine became something he rarely became: genuinely curious. Usually if he asked questions, it was because he needed to know specific answers. In his line of work it was necessary. But because he spent every day analysing people's lives in minute detail to the point where he knew too much about them, the feeling of curiosity kind of died. He didn't want to know any more than he needed to know about people. But this was different. This young woman had obviously lost a lot in her life, and Horatio was curious to know whether Ryan was one of them. He decided to try to satisfy his rare feeling of curiosity and ask her, although he highly doubted he would get an answer. He would more likely get the middle finger.

"Ma'am, do you know Mister Wolfe?"

She didn't say anything for a while; instead she just kept staring at the diner. Horatio had given up hope of a reply when she relied, her voice small and raspy again.

"Yes."

Horatio nodded, but decided not to ask how she knew him. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

"We were childhood friends. But I don't exist anymore."

Horatio struggled to understand what her last sentence meant, but as he was about to ask her, the young woman's defences came back up and her face closed quicker than he could blink. The icy gaze returned to her face, and her stance became simultaneously defensive and offensive.

"I have to go. Don't tell Ryan anything_, especially _not about me. Once you've checked everything out and decided you're in, call Kat. We'll meet again after that." She passed Horatio a paper napkin with a number on it, which he immediately pocketed for safe keeping. The small girl turned on her heel and walked few steps, before stopping abruptly and facing him again.

"Be warned Lieutenant- someone will get hurt in this. Once you enter the rabbit hole, there's no way back." She gave him one last level gaze, before turning and walking away from the diner into the darkness, the girl smoking by the diner disappearing with her.

Horatio suddenly felt the chill from the night. Whether it was her parting words that caused him to feel it, he didn't know. All he did know was that he was confused, concerned, and that the small brunette was right: someone _would_ get hurt. Horatio only hoped it wouldn't be Ryan.

Walking back towards the diner, Horatio Caine suddenly felt afraid. Very afraid. Afraid for his team, but most of all, afraid for Ryan. After all, there were only so many times a man of Ryan's strength could come back fighting after being knocked down. Horatio wasn't sure how many more times Ryan could keep fighting though. He only hoped and prayed that Ryan's nine lives weren't up.

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**Once again, please tell me if you spot any mistakes :) Thank you**


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